 has warned in the document. The public health grant to local authorities to fund sexual health services has been reduced by over £1 billion between 2015/16 and 2020/21, the body, which represents councils in England and Wales, says. Without more funding there 'could be an increase in unwanted pregnancies and STIs'. Meanwhile, services could struggle to deal with situations such as an outbreak of monkeypox cases, it said. The revelations come in a new report titled 'Breaking point: securing the future of sexual health services'. The LGA is calling on the Chancellor to commit to support the rise in demand for sexual health care in the fiscal statement on Thursday. David Fothergill, chairman of the LGA's Community Wellbeing Board said: 'Councils are facing a perfect storm of increased demand for services whilst at the same time continued cuts to their funding. 'This is unsustainable and risks a reversal in the encouraging fall in some STIs and potential increases in unwanted pregnancies. 'To ensure councils can continue to meet the sexual and reproductive health needs of their communities, they need to see long term increases in the public health grant at the upcoming Autumn Statement. 'Cuts to spending on sexual health, as with other areas of public health expenditure, are a false economy. 'Looking forward to the){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
Sexual health services are ‘at breaking point’ – with demand surging by 36% since 2013.
More than 300,000 new STIs were detected by clinics in 2021, while more and more women are using services for implants and the coil, a new report reveals.The number of common STIs caught among the over 65’s jumped by 20% in two years – from 2,280 in 2017 to 2748 in 2019.
Overall in 2021, there were almost two million diagnostic tests for chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis, and HIV delivered by sexual health services – an increase of 19% compared to 2020.
But as sexual health services are flooded with requests, funding has been ‘slashed’, The Local Government Association (LGA) has warned in the document.